Near Field Communications, or NFC, allows for wireless communication between two devices in close proximity to each other. Many smartphones contain embedded NFC chips that can send encrypted data a short distance (“near field”) to a reader located, for instance, next to a retail cash register. To complete a payment transaction, a customer must have their credit card information stored in a secure element of an NFC-enabled smartphone. This hardware-based solution presents numerous complications for a credit card issuer.
These and other drawbacks exist.